This is the 48th article in Bears Doing Big Things, a weekly column celebrating the stories of notable M-A alumni.
Diego Sabio Paese ‘19 is now a Clinical Nurse at the Stanford Nurse Residency Program. At M-A, he was involved in orchestra, soccer, and French club. He said, “My favorite class was AP Biology with [Patrick] Roisen, because it really taught me to work hard. I have a lot of respect for Roisen, because he dedicated the time to support me and to help me in the class.”
Sabio Paese’s path to nursing began with an often overlooked activity: a career aptitude test he took as part of an M-A college and career presentation. He said, “One of the careers it suggested was nursing because of my love for biology and communicating with and helping people. I wasn’t sure what to pursue, and the more I learned about it, the more I started to like the thought of being a nurse.”
Sabio Paese attended Linfield University. “I wanted to try living somewhere other than the Bay Area, because we live in a bubble, and the rest of the world isn’t like that. So I chose Oregon, and I definitely got what I asked for. There were a lot of people from different parts of the world and it was beautiful,” he said.
On his nursing major, Sabio Paese confirmed, “The rumors are true, it was very hard.”
Sabio Paese had many jobs after high school. “I was a part-time barista on campus for the first two years of college, a peer Resource Network mentor, and Student Body President during my last year. As a mentor, I helped new students adjust to the nursing program, and as a Student Body President, I helped oversee and advocate for other nursing students. It taught me a lot about leadership and management,” he said.
After college, Sabio Paese entered the Stanford Health Care Nurse Residency Program. He said, “The program is really aimed at supporting new nurses through the entire process of becoming a nurse because going from textbook to bedside is a very big jump.”
Sabio Paese works as an inpatient nurse in the adult department. He explained, “Nurses are always monitoring patients’ status. We’re constantly assessing and providing medications, and working with the other healthcare teams that patients may need. The new graduate program is really nice because in addition to our work, we have monthly seminars that have specific lectures or team bonding activities, just things that help support us in the world of nursing.”
On our 1 p.m. Monday interview, Sabio Paese had just woken up after a night shift starting at 6:45 p.m. and ending at 7:15 a.m. Walking through a typical work day, he explained, “I work three 12-hour shifts, so, in theory, I have four days off each week. On a typical day like tonight, I’m going to stay up until 3 or 4 A.M to tire myself out as much as possible. Ideally, I will sleep until around 3 to 4 P.M tomorrow, cook myself some lunch, and mentally and physically prepare for my next 12-hour shift. I also try to stack my days, so I’ll have three days in a row on the night schedule and I can get back onto a daytime shift for the remaining four days. The three days are a little draining, but I try to enjoy my days off as much as possible. Balancing work and life is important, otherwise, it will suck your soul out.”
Sabio Paese also enjoys the part of his job that involves interacting with people. He said, “I get to communicate with the patients and be very therapeutic with them. Nursing is also very much a team effort. The other nurses and I have gotten very close. I’m even close with other members of the healthcare world—we all have a common goal so we all get to work together and have to communicate in order to achieve all of our goals.”
Sabio Paese’s advice to current M-A students: “There’s so much academic pressure, don’t let it get to you. You’re young, and you literally have the entire world in front of you, so don’t ever feel pressure to try and follow what everybody else is doing. Don’t do something just because it’s the quickest way to success or because it’s expected of you, there are so many other opportunities in the world. Take the time to find the things that really motivate you.”
Sabio Paese’s advice for students interested in nursing: “Get exposure to actual nursing experiences. Take the time to really look into it. Every year so many people drop the program because they didn’t realize how intense the classes would be or because they didn’t know they would need certain skills. Volunteer at a hospital and see if you can watch the workflow of nurses or healthcare in general.”
